Severe Weather

2nd person dies from CO poisoning while sitting inside car

Boston fire officials said a second person died Saturday after apparently being poisoned by carbon monoxide while sitting in his vehicle.

Firefighters were called to a Woolson Street home in Mattapan after reports that a man had been sitting in a running vehicle since 11 a.m. After getting no response, crews broke the window and discovered that the man was dead.

Fire officials said he died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Earlier in the day, a 12-year-old boy died after he and his father were poisoned by carbon monoxide while shoveling out their vehicle in Dorchester.

Fire crews were called to 3 Nazing St. where they found the boy in cardiac arrest. The boy's father then went into cardiac arrest, officials said.

The victims were shoveling a walkway near their vehicle.

“I'm assuming the son got cold, and the father told him to go in the car and get warm. And then the next thing you know, he started screaming, ‘He’s not breathing. He's not breathing,’” witness Shakiena Phifer said.

Phifer and other neighbors rushed to help.

“The father brings the boy into my hallway and lays him on the ground. Then he goes back outside and collapses himself,” she said.

Phifer, who works in the mental health field, put her CPR training to work.

“I was just in the hallway, trying to resuscitate the little boy. The EMTs arrived and starting doing the same to both the boy and father,” she said.

The EMTs fought through huge snow drifts to get to the victims.

“They ended up just throwing their bags over, just swam their way through the snow,” Phifer said.

Officials said the back of the victims' vehicle was completely encased in snow, and it filled with carbon monoxide.

The victims, who were not identified, were taken to local hospitals. Officials later confirmed that the boy died.

Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan had few details about the incident, but he urged residents to clear any gas vents on the outside of their homes.

"They need to get out and get these vents cleared now," Coan said. "There are 5-, 7-foot drifts against buildings. Those vents need to be cleaned immediately."

In East Boston, fire officials said two children, ages 5 and 8, were taken to an area hospital for treatment after showing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. Authorities said they had been sitting in a car at 156 Porter St. The children were expected to be OK.

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